Tag Archives: Don Levine

FILE – In this Jan. 30, 2003 file photo, G.I. Joe creator Don Levine holds up his original hand-carved, hand-painted G.I. Joe prototype in Providence, R.I. Levine died of cancer early Thursday, May 22, 2014 at Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island, said his wife, Nan. He was 86. (AP Photo/Victoria Arocho, File)

It is with great sadness that JBL reports that G.I. Joe creator Don Levine passed away on May 22, 2014. He was 86 years old.

He served as Hasbro’s head of Research & Development in the 1960’s and led the team that designed the 21 part 1:6 action figure that revolutionized the ways boys played. This figure, which honored the many veterans working at the company at the time, was dubbed “G.I. Joe” and made its debut at the New York Toy Fair in February 1964. The figures debuted in time for the Christmas season later that year with a price tag of $4 each.

Countless children since 1964 have been impacted the efforts of Don’s team. The G.I. Joe brand changed with the times, transforming from a military toy line to a series of global adventurers before changing to the more recent 4″ scale. Levine, a former veteran of the Korean War, thought of the figure as a way to honor veterans.

It would seem that the G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary is “kind of a big deal” in the toy world– especially when coverage of the event stretches all the way across the Atlantic to the U.K.

Kim Gittleston, a business reporter for the BBC who is currently covering the New York Toy Fair, published an excellent piece yesterday entitled “How Did G.I. Joe Become the World’s Most Successful Boys’ Toy?” It’s an excellent piece that covers the entire history of the brand, from its early beginnings to its most current state and includes quotes from noted Joe personalities like Derryl DePriest, Kirk Bozigian, and even friend of JBL and GeneralsJoes.com admin Justin Bell. (Honestly, it’s a much better and less biased piece than the earlier AP article that ran a week ago.)

It’s good to see the G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary getting coverage both domestically and internationally. This shows that not only does the brand have reach but that there’s still life in old Joe yet!

(Thanks to Adrian Faulkner for the heads-up and congrats to Justin Bell on the quotation!)